Early Learning: Invest $1 and save $10

We've heard it time and time again. If we invest in early learning now, we'll save on societal costs later. But it's hard to see the value in investing a buck I could use toward my needed caffeine fix today, when the supposed returns won't materialize for decades.

 

Well, take off your cynical hat! A new study co-authored by Arthur Reynolds, a child-development professor at the University of Minnesota, shows a 10-to-1 gain in terms of reduced social-welfare costs like remedial education, health care and incarceration, when compared to the $5,000 per student cost of a public early childhood enrichment program like Child-Parent Centers.

 

Since 1967, the Child-Parent Centers in Chicago have provided comprehensive education, health, job and family services for kids and their parents. Most children begin the program at age 3 or 4 and receive help until 2nd or 3rd grade. The program has teachers with four-year college degrees and special training in early childhood education, and parents are expected to be very involved in their child's education.